The Brotherhood of Justice is a 1986 made-for-TV drama film directed by Charles Braverman and starring Keanu Reeves, Kiefer Sutherland, Lori Loughlin, Billy Zane, Gary Riley, Don Michael Paul, Danny Nucci, and Joe Spano.
One night, a gang breaks into Santa Lucia High School and vandalizes it. When principal Joe Grootemat gives a lecture to the student body about the problems with vandals, drug dealers, and other bad elements around the school and neighborhood, six members of the football team - Derek, Scottie, Mule, Collin, Barnwell, and Les - decide to do something about it. Forming a vigilante group, they go about ending the reign of the bad elements inside their neighborhood. Soon, however, their list of targets start to include those who they have petty and personal issues with… and they start to become no different from the criminals they fight…
The Brotherhood of Justice contains examples of:
- An Aesop: The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, as demonstrated by how far the Brotherhood falls over the course of the film.
- Based on a True Story: The film was based on events that occurred at Paschal High School
in Fort Worth, Texas in 1984, with the vigilante gang called The Legion of Doom. The names and locations were changed due to the fact that once incarcerated, the members were prohibited from doing any books or movies about the gang. - Bittersweet Ending: Derek saves Victor from the bomb the Brotherhood planted in his car, turns himself in and names names to end the Brotherhood for good, very likely sacrificing his future in the process.
- External Combustion: The Brotherhood plants a bomb on Victor’s car that will explode when he opens the driver door. Thankfully, Derek stops him from tripping it.
- He Who Fights Monsters: The Brotherhood is formed to fight the criminal elements in their town but windup becoming just as bad as they were.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Derek, as the Brotherhood gets worse and worse.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Brotherhood.
